ratty

£1.80 to drive the Spartan over last year, but it was well worth the money to see the look of horror on some peoples faces:-D.

Some photos of the inside of XL426 for those that are interested.

Spent a pleasant day with the VRT at Southend Airport on Sunday. Now I want one, its Bigger and makes more noise than my other toys!

Drive it, got to use up my fair share of the worlds petrol reserves!

Not Scary Jack F@%*$NG irritating, lost a fair bit of hair off my hands and arms trying to suffocate the fire with a blanket before self preservation made me shut the bonnet and in finest tradition RUN AWAY! Neil (Have you had a chance to review the actual extent of the damage yet Nigel?? ) There is nothing plastic or rubber left under the bonnet :cry: the engine will need close inspection, unfortunately the bonnet release didn't and so trumpton needed to use their largest pry bar to gain access, their hose nozzle also made some interesting dents in the wing tops:argh:(not their fault really they did need to put the fire out after all). Then there is the matter of having lake Windermere pumped into the car flooding it up to sill level (getting in to steer it on to the recovery lorry was fun! and got better when the car started up the incline and I got all the water hiding in the dash deposited on my lap - laugh I nearly pissed myself). Many thanks for the well wishes and commiserations, information on the possible location of spares etc but for now I am awaiting the insurance assessor and the “it’s only worth fifty quid mate it’s an old car” bun fight that’s sure to follow:(.

Merrily on my way to get an MOT yesterday morning. Filled up with petrol, car purring along nicely when cough---cough splutter---splutter------------BANG! (nice misfire) followed by loss of power, luckily I was near a bus stop and managed to pull off the road then:-- BUGGER! sorry vince you and your good lady will need to wait a while for our ride out!

Hi Joris, am trying to edit & upload but you will all need to be patient as my computor is not recognising my video file format:banghead:. Mark I will try again at the weekend and if i fail again I shall send you an un-edited copy with all the boring bits :sleep:.

Mark I have Video of the car tug-o-war, pm me address and your choice of dvd+ or dvd- an I shall send you a copy.

Going next week for a look at the beaches and to say thanks.

Remember the 60 mile smile Vince:-D the 60 mile smile:cool2:

So they work then:-D.

My Spartan - Coz it's MINE!

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Vince, the whole CVRTs'R'Us shopping experience is great fun but such a distraction:shocked:it takes hours just to pick up a couple of simple bits. Must phone Andy about some bits and pop up for a chat:)

I did same reasoning as agripper, oh well. However I have found Andy and the boys helpful and a good source of spares:). Chris you still want a new in box Ferret radiator?

Vince naturally there will be a few hour fettling required but hey who needs sleep anyway? Will be with you in spirit as I hope to be out in my Spartan (think I shall go to Asda for a loaf of bread and some bacon mmmmm bacon mmmmmmm).

Excuses I am sure you can think of, but I believe a well thought out strategy is to THINK BIG so I suggest:- You overtly measure your available space (nice having a corner plot that will help) make sure Wifey notices you whilst you do this. Look at adverts for Chieftains, Centurions T34’s etc and make noises as to “better than money in the bank” or “the way scrap is going this would make a nice retirement fund” and don’t forget the immortal “wow you get a lot of metal for you £’s when you buy a tank” Visit Bovington or Duxford with Wifey in tow, let her get a feel for just how large these things are. Then show her a Champ/Jeep/Landy (whatever it is you really want) she will be smitten by the size and will positively encourage you to get one of those instead of a ruddy great tank! Job done simple! Although the above can work it can and does also cause sulks, black eyes, mysterious rolling pin shaped lumps and I suspect occasional Divorce, so please try at your own risk as no responsibility can be taken if it goes horribly wrong

I am sorry you had a bad experience with the dreaded DVLA at Chelmsford Neil, but in the interest of balance and to encourage others to road register ex-military (and anything else interesting) vehicles I must comment that my own experience with Chelmsford DVLA office was reasonably painless (an irritating delay of a few days waiting for the Inspector to visit me and look at the hull # on the Spartan was the only fly in the ointment) apart from that they processed both my registration for my Chevrolet M1008 and my Spartan efficiently. The DVLA employees were in fact very helpful with the Spartan. So my point is to anyone reading this DON’T let the odd bad experience put you off, after all the more greenies we can get out on the road the better!

Vince, I have a small TIG plant (AC Capable) and have had some success with clagging aluminium back together. I would not attempt anything structural or crucial but if you want to bash the skirt straight I will pop down and attempt to stick it back together! We could also fit a cat flap into that lovely hole in the hull:idea: but it will need to warm up first I no longer do cold and wet if Ican possibly avoid it:)

When's it open for testing?:drive:

Good work Nick, We CVRT owners need to keep Grasshopper well practiced in the art of fettling these wonderful toys! (We also need to ensure he stays small and supple maybe we should bind him in a manor similar to that used on ancient Chinese ladies feet?)

Hi Catweazle, sorry didn’t mean to confuse or offend you. My comment was supposed to be encouraging, as with others on the forum I do not feel that I have anything to add by posting a reply to many of the threads, this does not mean that I am not interested or didn’t enjoy reading the post, just that I have nothing constructive to contribute. You should not take lack of reply as a negative, and along with others should continue to post anything MV related that you find interesting, I know I will, hopefully some other forum members will find some entertainment in most threads if not in every post.

Good Evening CW, I also find most posts on this forum complete drivel and pointless:box:, however there are some real gems of interest and even the drivel is entertaining, after all no one is forcing me or anyone else to read it.

Hi Mark, Now I can look forward to putting the kettle on as visiting Ashingdon is a valid excuse for a drive!

Thanks, would be nice if we get to see some more, have you got any abn deuce?